The Dreams of Titans
by Soulweb Knight
Summary: Sirzechs is a bloodstain soul, one of countless beings who bear the weight of their sins. For many it grows too much and life becomes suffering so they end it, taking up new faces and names. The dreams of the past, of sins and sorrows, still haunt them. This is the settling of debts and reckoning for one such circle of beings unknowingly finding the price of all their sins.


**The Dreams of Titans**

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><p>Mother always said that there would be days like today, days when everything would go utterly right and then go utterly wrong. Unfortunately it was the not a day for everything to go right, not when one learns that a half dozen of the greatest human magicians and sorcerers had joined a new Circle after nearly four hundred years of silence. And so it was the Sirzechs Lucifer found himself desperately wishing that he could rewind time and never get out of bed on this most damnable day.<p>

Wearily he kneaded his forehead. "Could you please repeat that?"

Across the small living room table his friend, rival and fellow Satan Ajuka gave him a dead eyed stare. "No. You heard it clearly."

"You expect me to believe that very man who has been missing for the last, oh what is it fourteen hundred years, a warlock who held back the tides of Rome and the Angels, the warlock who transcended mortality who his masterly of magic has return? The same man who slew gods and devils because he was, and I quote, 'bored fighting humans, angels, devils, and gods', that man?"

"I'm not repeating myself and you're forgetting the rest." A thin smirk flirted across Ajuka's face. "It wouldn't do for the responsible Satan to be so forgetful, that's my area of expertise," he teased.

Sirzechs glared, but didn't retort. "And furthermore you've learned from these mysterious sources of yours that he now has allies other than that traitor! And they are no less dangerous or powerful as he."

"Which include a fallen priestess of the Old Wyld, the blood heir of a thunder god, the ex-champion of Olympus, that Old Satan devil, and the current bearer of the metaphysical Eye, then yes," he finished off with a patronizing smirk. "Oh my dear rival, are you so fluster by the return of your nemesis that already has you already on the ropes. A being able to match your power if not exceed it once more takes the field," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

The humor was lost of the red headed Satan. "Leave the dramatics to Serafall," he reprimanded the other devil stone faced. "That man was bad enough alone. With the traitor and the others by his side I doubt you and I could take them together. So long as that traitor lives the Old Satan faction will have a rallying point and that man will aid her as he once did. If their alliance is restored…" he trailed off as his mind went to the dark places long since abandoned since the Great War.

"Devil kind will find themselves unable to live upon the Earth, recruit new members to our Peerages and face the constant threat of annihilation if they wander across that man or his allies. While one of them alone is not an issue for you or I, or even upper ranked devils, the rest would be mere target practice. Our population will stagnate as rumors spread, younger devils fear to go to Earth and either collect fewer Peerage members or weaker ones. In either case we are weakened overall and the other factions grow," he finished somberly.

The prediction, all too damnably logical, all but commanded his thoughts for a few minutes. He leaned back as his thoughts raced "As a Satan and a brother I cannot permit that to occur. Can they be dealt with silently?" he asked hopeful for a speedy resolution.

Ajuka nodded a rejection. "If there was I would have enacted it. That man and his new allies have their own methods of immortality still in play. Kill them now and they will reappear in fifty, hundred or a thousand years with the same issues and never forgetting their hate for the Three Factions. Except…" He trailed off thoughtfully to the small part of the report which he had left out, an unimportant figure in the new circle.

"Except?" Sirzechs pushed, hoping for a clever way out.

"Nothing. An idle thought," he said with a wave. "So long as the circle stands true all must be dealt with at once or none at all. Falbium might see a different route, but unless I know how their immortality works it's to no avail, unless you want to leave to your dear little sister to deal with?" he suggested with not so hidden amusement.

"No, Rias will not have to deal with our mess. That man and his allies are products of our age, we will deal with them now," Sirzechs answered curtly. "As powerful as she can be I will not see her fight the man who slew a dragon by himself or the Last Servant."

Ajuka regarded his old friend for a moment, studying the furrowed brow and brooding face. "I've seen that face before. Is the pre-war Sirzechs returning? Is Sirzechs Apollyon going to return to wage a new bloody campaign? What new glory will you lead us to this time?"

The furrowed brow and brooding face vanished, replaced with abject horror and near panic. "Never," he whispered. "Never again, Ajuka, never again. That man died the day the original Satans did, died upon the Amber Gate. Impaled by an Archangel's spear," he said solemnly, as if vowing it was true.

Ajuka shrugged, and rose to his feet with nary a swish of cloth. "If you say so. For the moment nothing can be done. I'll continue to observe them and you talk to Falbium. Perhaps one will slip up and reveal their secrets to their immortality, but I doubt it," he acknowledge with a frustrated frown.

"Do it. For the moment this stays between us," he stated though it was not needed. "We wait and we watch." He flexed his fingers and curled them tightly several times, staring all the while.

"I'll make some discrete inquires towards the Grigori, no doubt Azazel is already aware of this little incident. He would have to be blind to not have noticed the last full moon… Probably wants to recruit them too…" he muttered the last part, playing with series of loose armbands hidden by his sleeves. "You know that incident three years with the thing in the moon?"

Sirzech jerked his head to look back at the other Satan. "You don't think…"

"Maybe it just getting restless or its preparing for the return of its master I don't know, but I've had watchers keeping eye on the seals. They're weakening from the inside. If what escaped three years ago was any indication…" he trailed off suggestively.

The current Lucifer wanted to go to bed and pretend it was all a bad dream. Cleanup three years had been a nasty affair. If that whole beast was loosened upon the world then cleanup would be the least of his worries. "Double the guard on the seal. Our very best Ajuka, if that thing runs free once more…

"There's no Albion or Welsh to keep it in check now, plus it's had a thousand of years to concentrate its power," the other Satan shook his head grimly. "That's something I doubt you or I could take full on and survive."

Sirzechs resisted the urge to chew his lip. The beast in the moon was a wonder it had stayed sleeping for the last thousand years and not sought its master. "Keep me informed. With any luck we can deal with this quietly before it leaks out," Sirzechs said, looking towards his friend with a burning passion unseen before; the desire to put the past to rest forever and move onwards towards a brighter tomorrow.

Ajuka didn't respond, but nodded his affirmation. In a flash of light the he teleported away, leaving the Crimson Satan to the demons of the past.

He stared at the bookcase as the last magical particles faded. In the silence and privacy he could speak his own thoughts. "For the first time in a long time I'm…is this excitement or fear?"

-0-0-0-0-

The late afternoon streamed the last rays of light, creating a warm spring atmosphere for the members of the Far Eastern Magical Napping Society lazing about. The two boys in the room sat against the wall, the bald on frantically texting away while his brown haired friend absently played some game console with a glazed look. The game beeped. The brown haired boy looked at it, blinked once, and realized what he was doing. "Oh…"

Across the room sprawled out in the last rays of the sun, head resting on one of many well used pillows, his girlfriend of three years turned made small mewling noises as she shifted. At the center of the room, seated at the table, in various states of relaxation, only one of the three girls bothered to look up from her magazine to take a drink. The curvy brunette raised an eye brow at her friend and fellow Class Representative in half amusement and questioning.

He could only offer her a shrug and half smile. The room was still hot, and the air stagnant. There was little point in remaining here for much longer, certainly not long enough to restart the level. He hadn't been that interested in it anyway. Still it had been a good way to pass some time, even if he couldn't recall what it was; some kind of puzzle adventure.

Switching the power off, he slid it over beside his bald friend. "Makoto, here," he called out, trying to get his friend's attention. The only response he got was a quick wave as the bald boy continued texting with a wide grin. "Must be going good with her," he muttered under his breath as his eyes stole over to his girlfriend's sleeping form. _That makes one of us_ he thought with a certain trace of bitterness.

He was vaguely aware of the girls at the table shifting about, stretching, and Shinka, it was still vaguely strange to think of her like that, drawing up one leg to rest her chin on. Had she been wearing her school uniform it might been indecent to expose so much leg, but the gym pants she wore only taunted his memory of creamy white legs.

Shaking of his slightly he chided himself for drifting here. "Strange," he said as he stood to stretch, something popping in his hand as he reached for the roof with them interlaced, "I would have thought that Sanae would have popped up by now. It's been almost peaceful."

"Lazy days of spring," the straight haired Karazi Kannagi chimed in, never raising her eyes from whatever article she was engrossed in. "It's supposed to be even warmer the next few days," she said lightly, as if relishing the prospect.

"A few more weeks and we'll be graduating too," Shinka agreed quietly, having no wish to rose their sleeping friend.

"Yeah, hard to believe that it's almost over," Karazi agreed with a degree of wistfulness. "Though I am glad I joined your club when I did. It's far more relaxing than those other ones," she said with open distaste.

"Please don't hold back and tell us of their virtues all yet again," he said with caustic joviality. It felt good…and most importantly normal, to be this relaxed with friends.

Merriment danced in her black eyes as she looked up from her magazine and deadpanned, "They suck."

There were smiles around the room and even Makoto looked up with wiry amusement. Shinka let out a snort of laughter. His sleeping girlfriend turned once more and was seemingly coming to. He smiled as the other girl at the table ruefully shook her head at their antics.

With her brown hair only loosely curled, Haruna was the newest member of their little club. A friend of Shinka and Karazi she was the one he knew the least about, but she was a natural mediator. "Now, now. They have their good points to them. Why some of the baseball club members were scouted a few weeks ago and the computer club runs their own website creation business," she pointed out reasonably.

Unfortunately, he knew that reasonability or even logic had little place here and the look of predestined resignation was open on her face.

"Of course! How could I forget the glory of the athlete in motion? Producing sweat and rippling with muscle as a dozen well sculpted boys charge across the field to face each other in a stinking mess of uniforms and flesh all to get some balls. Clearly this is glory we have all missed out on," Shinka drolly answered with an amused smirk.

"Hey! Don't pick on my boys!" Karazi objected with faux indignation. "They play even day with each ounce their heart and soul! All for the chance of to grab the glory! Besides you never complained about the attention," she pointed an accusatory finger at Shinka, who was idly playing with her side ponytail.

"That's right," she retorted. "Least I don't have to care about them trying to sneak a peek as you do your cheers. Short skirts don't mix well with wind or jumping."

Karazi flushed slightly and gripped the table. "He was my boyfriend! It was a perfectly natural part of our relationship."

"Until he proved he was scumbag and lower than even dirt," he interjected as he took the last open corner at the table and took one of the cans from the center of the table. "Though that's probably an insult to dirt," he mused thoughtfully.

Haruna shot him a grateful look. Sometimes it took more than one of them to keep the peace . Hurtful things had been done and said, but they were past that. Skeletons in the closet were there for a reason.

Karazi nodded vigorously. "And that's why I'll never date an athlete as long as live!" she declared. "Even if he happens to be a quad-billionaire with his own tropical island and fleet of gold plated airplanes…" she trialed off sheepishly, "Well…then I'd at least give him a chance…you know to prove himself…"

"Oh yeah Yuuta, didn't you mention that you had to get to the store?" Shinka asked as Haruna and Karazi idly debated the merits of shortcomings of super star athletes.

He could have slapped himself for forgetting. Not four days had passed since the refrigerator had stopped working and his parents ordered a new one. Still the new fridge was only half stocked and not nearly well enough to his mediocre standards. "Ah yeah, luckily it's just me and Rikka and sometimes Satone."

His childhood friend had been elusive the last few weeks, shimming off the balcony at the oddest times and returning well after the sun rose. It probably had something to do with cram school and nerves, but he was quietly worried about her not that he could show it. Rikka had a jealous streak she hadn't shaken when it came to his childhood friend.

"Ya know, keep addressing so many girls so casually and people might start to think you one of those disreputable types," Shinka said with a grin.

He nearly spat out the drink of juice, irritatingly warm he noted. "B-But you all-"

She waved a hand airily. "Never said we don't mind because we told you too. Relax would you? That's what friends do and you have a lot of _friends_," she finished with mischievous smirk.

He caught the message and meanings. His cheeks brunt slightly as he struggled to formulate a response. She was being oddly forward and proactive today, in public no less. Finally he decided it was time to abandon this ship before lines were crossed. "There's a sale at one of the grocery stores I need to get," he offered, hoping the rest of the club would accept it.

"Oh yeah, I almost forget about the fridge breakdown. Is the new one any better?" Haruna asked.

"It's still in one piece and working if that's what you mean. No chance of a sudden call to eat an entire fridge of food I'm afraid," he said fondly, recalling a rather fun is totally unexpected night of hanging out and cooking all manner of dishes.

Haruna smiled, titling her head slightly. "That was a fun night wasn't it?" she asked rhetorically. The other two girls nodded vigorously. "But…you still owe Karazi, Shinka and I for coming over to help," she told him with a Cheshire grin.

He froze. He knew he needed to run, but it was too late. He had gone and stepped on the landmine he'd been avoiding. Evacuation wasn't an option. Moving was death and staying was death. Like a samurai of old he would have to endure this death blow if he wanted to escape with any shred of honor, however… He cast a side along glance at his bald friend, hoping and pleading he would turn his attention away from the phone to the plight before him.

After a moment of looking at that bald head he knew it was in vain. It was time to face death with whatever dignity he could muster. The wallet in his pocket was already starting to scream in preemptive agony. "Ah, I…hehehe" he trailed off weakly.

"After all you did invite three maidens of a delicate constitutions to consume copious amounts of food with you. Furthermore we had to endure Makoto's eating habits. I would think that is the sort of thing which requires due compensation. Don't you two?" Haruna asked the other girls.

"Indeed."

"It's only natural," Shinka affirmed.

"For which it is only natural that the debt be fulfilled by the very think that could have been ruined," Haruna stated.

He didn't like were this was going. The screams of his wallet were deafening. Mentally he braced while his knuckles went white around the can.

"Of course this course of action would have to be approved by the entire party," She cast a knowing look towards the two girls who nodded. "And there we have it. Democracy at work, so Yuuta…" She placed her elbows on the table, interlaced her fingers and leaned forward.

Karazi snapped her fingers suddenly. "Ah! I know! The new shopping center!"

"That high end place in Kuoh? Isn't it supposed to be super classy?" Shinka asked the other girls.

"I heard there were fights for who would get to open their stores there!"

He hated the direction this conversation was taking. Why not a local shopping center with normal prices? He didn't dare voice that thought. Quality mattered to them and not his wallet. Already they were talking about in and comparing rumors as to what shops it actually had. The words 'designer' and 'classy' were being thrown around too much for his liking.

"Alright it's settled!" Haruna announced finally. "Tomorrow is free so we'll be taking a trip out to Kuoh. It's less than an hour and a half away so we should leave early. Of course," her gaze slid over to him, "you'll be paying us back for our agony," she said sweetly.

Denial wasn't wise. Fleeing was a death sentence. Acceptance was his only avenue. Maybe there was hope they would spare his wallet the full pain and how knew he might be able to control the damage himself. Then he glanced to see the grin Shinka was sporting, a knowing one that promised pain if he didn't play along. "Seven at the train station?" he suggested weakly.

The three girls looked to each other and nodded. "And her too," Haruna said point towards the yawning Rikka.

He had no problem including Rikka. It would look awkward if he didn't bring his girlfriend along on this little expedition. She did look rather cute when yawning and rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Then I need to get to the store soon," he said quickly before anything else changed. He stood and almost made for the door when he remembered what needed doing. "Rika you want anything from the store?"

"Ah…" She slid the medical eye patch back over her right eye with a thoughtful look. "I require only the regular tribute of crystal," she declared. "And your confirmations of this new form of crystallized mana Dekomori's minions have spoken about. I believe it is a kind of gold in hue."

"Got it," he said with a suppressed sign. Was it too much to ask for groceries like a normal person? "Blue raspberry and whatever new flavor they have."

"Indeed, truly we have transcend mere words and know read each other's intent," she said looking extremely pleased.

It was hard to hold any anger towards her when he saw that face being happy. She was adorable, but utterly infuriating. If only she would grow up! If anyone deserved to be genuinely happy then it was Rikka. He tried his hardest to heal those harsh years with pleasant memories, but it was grating none the less to see three years of failure to break her out of her delusions once and for all. "Sure that," he said flatly. "See you at home," he said, a small farewell wave towards the others, as he opened the door and stepped out.

He barely made it halfway down the hallway and was just turning to the staircase down to the first floor when Shinka appeared, running towards him. He paused as she came to a halt in front of him. She was barely winded, a feat he had to admire.

"Just remembered that I have something I needed to do too," she said with saucy wink.

"That?!" he sputtered and flushed slightly. "Here?"

"What?" she answered with a hint of anger, folding her arms under her chest. "Anywhere is anywhere and you promised anywhere or did you lie to me?"

He was keenly aware of the effect on her body as she leaned in towards him. "N-No, never. I just didn't expect it…so close to the others," he finished weakly and quietly.

"Tch! What's there to be embarrassed about? Hell it might even snap her out her delusions from the sheer shock. Remember what I said?" she demanded, seizing his hand and practically dragging him down the first flight of stairs.

"You're not a second string, but that doesn't mean here and know!" he insisted quietly as she pushed him against the wall, in clear view of anyone descended from the second floor.

There was a feral light her eyes, desire and passion burning brightly; the same flame that had attracted him when their first met, but only recently realized. "All week," she began, pushing herself against him lightly, "I have to put up with your act." Their bodies knew the curves of the other. "Go through the motions of the class rep and friend." Noses were almost touching. Arms snaked around each other "Watching and waiting for my-hmphf!"

He cut her off with a forceful kiss. She relaxed slightly in his arms and he almost dared to let his eyes shut to savor the sensation, but fear of being found still pounded. It was all too tempting to get lost in everything she offered. When she pulled away he was unsure what he wanted, her lips or the safety of maintaining normality in the worst case scenario.

"Yuuta…" she murmured softly into his chest.

"I'm sorry, I really am." It hurt to see her in pain and to know he was directly responsible for it. Here, holding her in his arms, it felt right, but then it also felt right to hold Rikka like that. _I'm the worst_. "I…I don't know…"

She looked up slightly and all traces of anger were gone. "I know," she said softly. "This is twisted, how do people cope with this kind of thing?" Frustration was clear in her tone. "I just want it to be simple, you know. Not like this."

"Can't stop myself from wanting you, but I can't let Rikka go. I'm the worst aren't I?" he asked the ceiling morosely, unable to look her in the eyes. Love one and hurt the other, love both and hurt both, love neither and hurt everyone, and he ignoring the strange relationship with Satone and whatever she was after.

Shinka shook her head emphatically and cupped his face, forcing him to look at her full on. "No, life just got…complex; crazy stupid complex. But **we'll** figure a way out," she declared.

He looked at her in no small amount of shock. "That…that was the first time…"

"That I referred to you and I as we," she stated in a normal tone as she took a step back, already wanting the warmth of his body beside her own. "We're a team and you can't play for both teams forever Yuuta."

"Hey, what if someone overhead you? They'd get the wrong impression!" he protested almost immediately then saw the small smile on her face. "You…!"

"Can't solve all our problems right here and now," she said lightly, all but the faintest traces of frustration gone from her face unless one knew where to look. "You never know who might overhear us and butt in with a head full of stupid hijinks. It's our real world so we have to confront it head on, ya know?"

"Yeah, the final step to conquering the curse," he said lightly, avoiding the word they hated. Besides it was a curse though sometimes he thought it was nearly a plague by the number of people he knew whom suffered from it. He really wanted to hold her and kiss her some more, see if they could work some of that chronic frustration here and now, but he was no slave to previsions.

Shinka turned and was starting down the steps with a certain relief in her movements and exaggerated swing to her hips before she stopped and looked back over her shoulder, flicking aside some loose hair. "You know…" she began slyly. "I've been needing a new bikini for summer. I wonder if I should get one tomorrow?" she asked with faux innocence.

"I'm going to die," he muttered, his thoughts already running wild. "Tease me, but please me," he begged her as she started down once more.

"Nope!" she said lightly, skipping the last step with a flourish.

He followed more sedately, desire still burning hot. "We can't let Haruna or Karazi find out," he tried to warn her, but she waved it off.

"As long as you can keep those hands off me tomorrow," she paused then raised a finger, "unless it's in a platonic manner of course. Then I might give you a personal show, break in the new bikini properly," she said, flushing with excitement.

"I may not last that long at this rate. You're being oddly affectionate today and it's confusing."

"Call it the weather, spring fever, summer sickness, whatever you want. Pull yourself together, you're a man or at least your man enough to have two different women at the same time!" she teasingly chided as she walked out the doors. "This weekend, same time," she called out one last time before she rounded the corner.

He was left working his jaw in silence. The heat had broken her, broken her wide open. She was risking everything today. He struggled for a few minutes to calm himself and center himself on the tasks at hand, grocery shopping and dinner. Reality demanded his attention elsewhere and he was glad to give it, if only to not think about the stunning woman walking away from him and his girlfriend just above him.

"Something has to change," he affirmed to the silence and the fading light. "It just has too."

-0-0-0-0-

Sophia Ring stalked through the warm night; flirting from shadow to shadow along the nearly abandoned road. The occasional oncoming car was ignored, normal humans could hardly appreciate her endeavors or the valor of her Angel hunts. She, the lone hunter, braved the night where others feared to tread to seek out the enemy, accursed Angels, to be slain by her mighty hand. It was not in the name of cowardice that she slunk from shadow to shadow but rather practicality. Her foe was winged predators, but she was better than them.

She was a veteran of the Great War and a magician without equal among the humans, devils or angels. In her mind she could still those final moments when her Master died, the wild desperation in his fiery eyes as he broke his hated and loved father over with mighty crack .

Tears unbidden formed and she wiped them away quickly. She would not cry, she had fought that battle and won already. Wand in hand, she risked giving away her advantage, but these Angels were near. The group of some four or five Angels was near, she could feel the world vibrant to their alien presence like a wake upon a river.

Three days of stalking and long nights had led to this moment. The interlopers who dared to walk in her city, her domain, instead of the pit were they belonged. Tonight they would pay the rent for entering her city, a pound of flesh and bone taken from the head or heart.

One would have thought that their kind would have learned the price she extracted nearly four years ago when she had awoken by accident. She paused for a moment. That blood soaked night of city wide hunting games had been immensely fun; weak angels praying to a God who rejected them as she approached, begging her for mercy, claiming ignorance or citing orders why they could not side with her master or defy their creators. Then it came to her, the reason why no one learned the lesson. A devilish smirk settled across her face; not one survived that night.

"That was an error," she chided herself softly. "This time one lives…after losing those pretty wings."

If only Yuuta could see her now, and he was back to his old self, then she would have a proper third party appreciation of her scheme. Once upon a time he had loved such a scheme of terror and darkness. Memories of those rapturous days of their youth in blood, fire and death threatened to blind her in the present.

Before her the warehouse district stretched out, nearly three kilometers of large storage buildings and parked trucks. At this time of night it was nearly clear of any human presence, except a warehouse on closest to the main gates were a few night shift workers lazed around. In the very air she felt the disturbance of the angels light based magic, a telltale ripple in the ambient magic.

It was mere child's play to follow the ripple back to its source. Deep in her breast she felt excitement welling up once more, the blood starting to the pound in her veins, her throbbing heart preparing for the explosion of violence to come. Firmly she raised her wand, and cast aside the illusion of plastic. In her hands it lengthened to the full sized staff of lacquered black wood. The top was carved into the likeness of a snarling skull with two brilliant red gems for eyes and a much larger ruby in the mouth bound in place by chains of gold that seemingly imprisoned the skull upon the staff. Up and down the haft ran the secret runes only her departed father could teach, each glowing with an inner fire and brimming with long suppressed might.

With a short skip and a hop she leapt over the tall chain link fence with a single motion. With the familiar weight of her staff instead of the wand she felt almost whole again; to unleash her full might tonight would invite the attention of other powers she had no wish to deal with nor did she fancy destroying the city Yuuta was calling home in the midst of his delusions.

Only the quiet hum of a generator and the lazy conversation greeted her as she slipped between the warehouses. Empty pallets and parked machinery hid her approach as she worked her way towards the warehouse where the angels waited. Already she was calling up the magical circles in her mind, crafting barriers to isolate the surrounding area in a moment's notice.

Had these fools been angels of some age then she might have been surprised by the lack of any larger barriers. Clearly she was dealing with children to be punished. The double doors of the warehouse waited before her, hiding her prey for but a moment longer, and she abounded all stealth. Her spells were ready and her scarf in place, spells and mana brimming as her calculations were completed.

"Time to vanish." She raised her staff to the doors. The choker and golden chain at her throat rattled slightly, a warning she had no need of. "Vanish this world!"

The skies darkened by sudden black storm clouds. Power, burning rivers of raw power, coursed through her veins begging to release their fury. The lighting flashed and the thunder roared as she unleashed her power. "I am the ruler of the Seven Domains of Heaven! Arise Tarhuntheim!"

With a roar and a crash the mundane world vanished wholly in a kaleidoscope of color and roar of space-time. The world shifted; before her stretching into infinity lay the barren plains under a constant stormy sky, the endless storms of Tarhuntheim. Here only fierce squalls and lighting existed. Thunder rolled in the distant, a constant eternal sound. The only blemish upon her domain was the existence of the warehouse and the beings within.

The squalls wiped by her, whispering in her ear of movement, but did not touch her cloth nor hair. She loosed her first spell from her staff. Countless blades of air formed before it and hurled towards the doors. The thwack of metal being pierced was only matched by the crash of glass.

Three winged figures burst through the skylights, gazing about in wonder. A fourth followed slower upon bloody dark wings. The sight of the dark winged angels made her blood boil. "Die!" she snarled as she swung her staff towards them and called upon her realm to answer her call.

Lighting rained down up the winged figures, shattering wood as the angels dodged away. She was vaguely aware of the smell of fire, but paid it no heed. Instead she directed a barrage of magical lighting towards them, sweeping the sky. Caught in the crossfire she watched in glee as the wounded one, no doubt caught in her opening attack, was tagged by her lighting.

The wounded one fell from the sky, but she knew it wasn't enough to kill it. The other three left their fallen comrade as the spell ended and descended upon her like locusts. Sweeping towards her she prepared for the second part of the fight. The spell for flight was a constant drain on her power as was maintaining Tarhuntheim, but she would not be confined to the ground. While her other gifts might have worked better in achieving flight she had renounced them long ago.

The angels summoned spears of light, purple, black and gray, and charged her. She flew to meet them, several pieces of rogue hair in her face as she accelerated well beyond human limits. To her the angels were almost slow in there motions as they summoned up barrages of their spears. With a savage grin she carried on her countercharge as the barrage began.

Left, right, ahead, left, up, roll, swing, right, down, ahead, up, left.

She danced through the barrage with practiced ease. "You'll have to try harder than that!" she cackled. Her lighting hadn't even needed to intervene.

"What the hell?" the foremost of fallen angels exclaimed as he lowered his spear of light for a moment. "Who the fuck are you?"

The other two angels were not so stupid as to lower their guard. She saw the opening and retargeted her blitz on the male angel. One second, two seconds, three seconds. She fired. Shear blades of wind sliced cloth and bone, wing and flesh. Sheer momentum carried her beyond the immediate range of the other pair.

The dark haired male angel clutched at his long jacket as the slices appeared as she turned to face them. "The fuck did you do my jacket?! I'll rape your ass Magicia- GAH!" Blood poured from his mouth. Wings bleed. Feathers fell. Cloth broke to scrap. Flesh was severed. The angel fell screaming for only a moment as the damage to his lungs rendered the entire vocal cord system without lungs to expel air.

"Hard to speak with a cut up lung," she mocked the male angel. "Now, you two!" She swung her staff towards the two female angels, both generously endowed and flaunting it in tight black dresses.

One of the pair, slightly taller and more endowed than her comrade, stepped forward with a sneer. "So a magician thinks to challenge a Fallen Angel. Don't get cocky because you slew N'althatiel! I, Itoruiel, will be no easy prey. Surrender know and I'll make your death…" the angel gave her a sensual look, smoldering eyes filled with inhuman power, "…the height of ecstasy. Such power to form this pocket dimension…"

She could look one and raise an eyebrow. "That trick? You really think that trick will work on me? I'm offended!"

Itoruiel took a step back, eyes wide with shock. "Wa-what? But how? No human has every resisted my charms!"

"Who said I was human?" she answered lightly. "Magical eyes are worthless and I'll close them forever here and now!" What little time she allowed for talk was over. She let loose her spells, sending forth magical orbs and deadly beams towards the pair as she charged.

To the angel's credit she recovered quickly once her comrade, white haired and ashen faced, caught the first few spells upon a hasty shield of light.

"Apiel," Itoriuel muttered causing the white haired angel to shake her head. Apiel's arm trembled as another orb impacted the shield. Spider thin cracks were forming. The white haired angel touched her comrade's arm and Itoiriuel nodded. "I understand."

She saw the two angels hiding behind their shielding and smirked. Shields of a magical nature were a unwise thing to rely upon when facing a skilled magician with eons of experience. She redoubled her barrage of exploding orbs, turning beams to orbs as they left the constructed circles floating around her. Already she was creating a second layer to reshape them as she closed the last dozen meters.

With a mighty effort she swung her staff, activating another spell hidden in the skull itself. She felt the staff collide with the shield and the burst of heat and light upon her face as she was thrown back and recovered. A haze lingered as she flicked some dust from her scarf. Shaking her head slightly she took a second glance at the scarf to see that it had been torn. Anger welled up in her and she didn't bother to wait for the haze to clear.

She pounded the area with the lighting of Tarhuntheim and explosive orbs. "You…you…ruined my scarf!" she roared as she redoubled her efforts. Finally she was rewarded with a cry of pain, a gasp of agony.

That caught her attention enough to forget her anger over the scarf for a moment. "A tongueless angel? You were caught and punished! By Uriel no less!" she said with a bark of laughter. "Oh could this get any better? I'll finish the kill he never got," she said with childish vindication towards the long dead Archangel of Wrath she hated more than any other except the own who slew her father.

"You won't touch her bitch!"

She looked up to see Itouriel descending, a massive spear of light in her hands. Instead of panicking she smiled up at the descending angel. "Let me clip your wings," she said as her staff blazed upwards. Her arm shock as the spear impacted the arcane shield. "A fallen angel protecting her fellow fallen, how odd!" she said in mock surprise. "But then I gather your tastes lay in a different area. The reason she lost her tongue no doubt. Uriel did love ironic punishments, was her _sin _fooling around with you?" she asked with a Cheshire grin.

"Fucking devil bitch!" Itoruiel snarled as a half dozen more spears appeared over her shoulder.

"Mou," she whined, "I take offense to being called a devil bitch. I'm no devil nor will I ever be one of those pansies! I am a demon here to shatter and consume your souls!" she cried out as she activated yet another spell and summoned the lighting of the realm. Her own spell sent her down towards the ground, but she easily caught herself and stood tall.

"Missed me!' the angel taunted from above her, having been forced higher and taken precious moments longer to recover.

Not pressing her advantage was the point. She was going to break this angel wholly. "I never aimed for you," she informed her with smirk and pointed to the other fallen angel. "I wanted her."

Apiel remained where she was, a three meter thin spear of light still in hand, standing as the dust cleared. Itoruiel shrieked. Soul rending agony came from the fallen angel's lungs as the spear of light meant to slay her from behind vanished into particles. The head of Apiel was gone, turned to a blackened mess of cauterized brain blasted all the way from the upper right forehead to the left shoulder. Itoruiel swopped down as her lover's smoking corpse began to fall to the earth. She caught it even as shrieked and sobbed, cradling the dead angel in her arms.

With a victorious smirk she twirled her staff about loosely. The fight was a good as hers. "So you wanna try something else new? It's called necrophilia or corpse fucking. See I was kind enough to leave you a corpse to find some comfort, but the head had to go. Least she won't have to see the worthlessness of her lover," she mocked with glee.

"Devil…demon….monster" the sole living angel cursed between sobs. "I'll never forgive you! We were young and stupid! Cast out for no reason other than seeking knowledge about each other! Humans did it all the time!"

"They do and it's occasionally fun, but your crime isn't whatever 'perversions' your into, though seriously necrophilia. She might be into you now in spirit at least," she said with a mocking laugh as she slowly descended to where the angel waited on the ground. "Your crime is simply entering my city, but you'll not be dying just yet. See I have this problem where I kill the intended messenger along with the rest. Daddy always said it was a problem to work on, but he died in the end because of a damn message. Anyway see I'm going to cut off those pretty black wings of yours and your lover there and make myself a nice cloak then you're going to go crawling back to your leaders and tell them that my city is off limits."

Itoriuel sobbed as she clutched the body. "Never…I'll never let you take her wings!"

She made a surprised face, mouth in an O shape. "Ah, you thought I was requesting. See here's the thing, I wasn't. I'm going to take both your wings, but hey you can have the corpse. I'm sure it will stay warm for a while longer. Long enough for one last orgasm if you hurry," she added conversationally putting a finger to her lips thoughtfully as she took a few more slow steps.

The drain of maintaining Tarhuntheim was growing too great as reality sought to reassert itself. She could feel no other disturbances from fallen angels meaning the other two were dead already. When she was close enough she paused just outside of an easy stabbing range.

"The hell are you? N-No devil is this cruel!" the fallen angel demanded shakily, summoning up a light spear in one hand. "Just finish me off!"

"Nope! Devils, Satans and all the Pillars wish they could be like me. See I'm a relic, a leftover from an early age when being a devil was more than just a race, it was job, a lifestyle, and I was good at it!" She watched the angel's face pale in horrid realization. She clapped her hands in glee. "Ah so you get it! Yep, that's me! Sophia Ring SP Saturn VII, the Demon Magician, and contractor with the Lord of the Morning Star and First and only True King of Hell!"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…"

"Yep, you're well and truly fucked. See archangels couldn't kill me, even God couldn't kill me, so I have to thank you for being such a good toy. However since you been such a good toy I'll make your death later quick, but first you have to deliver my message."

"You…served Lucifer…"

She huffed in annoyance. "Yes, I'd imagine that was made clear already."

"Then…that…you're…the Last," she said in growing panic, already on the verge of hysterics. "Y-Y-You were playing with us. From the start!"

"Stating the obvious, now you're starting to annoy me," she huffed. "I'm done with you. Just let me remove those wings and I'll be on my way."

"We fell because of your master! We're on the same side! All we wanted was to feel like the humans do!" The angel cried in desperation.

Sophia froze and her victory was soured. "…how dare you! You dare compare yourself to us, to him! You know what I was going to leave you mostly intact, but I've changed my mind." A sadistic grin appeared on her face. "Think I'll carve out those pretty eyes and remove your arms, maybe give you a double mastectomy too. Where to start though?" she said with a thoughtful hum.

The fallen angel whimpered and saw blackness.

-0-0-0-0-

The very last rays late vanished as the remaining club members cleaned up the snack remains, chatting softly. Haruna rolled her shoulder, trying to work out a kink with a hiss, as she stood.

"Ah does a curse befoul you?"

She stopped her arm mid-roll and looked at Rikka. "Not quiet, but near enough." She would politely ignore her delusions, it was the decent thing after all. "I slept in an odd position last night, It might be time to replace my mattress."

"Duh! I've been telling you that for the last oh what? Three months? Feels like a lot longer," Karazi noted. "Futons are far more comfortable after all."

"Yes, and I told you already, my father won't approve. _His_ image trumps anything else," she said with a degree of resentment.

"Eh? I don't think I've ever heard about your father," Makoto said suddenly looking up.

"Back to the realm of the living I see," Karazi drolly said with a roll of her eyes. "You're girlfriend doing okay?"

"I don't like to talk about him," Haruna said hoping he would drop the issue.

Putting his phone in his pocket, he waggled his eyebrows in curiosity. "We'll there's a story there I'd like to hear. And Kumin is fine. We were planning out our weekend date."

Rikka let out a gasp. "Gah! When did the monk learn to control his perversions?! Commitment!"

Makoto flushed slightly at the memory of the past. "Hey! I didn't know the glorious beauty of my beloved Kumin-senpai at the time! All I did was what any healthy male would do," he defended and justified his actions yet again. "Since then I've gone straight. Reformed I tell you!"

"Exactly what a spy would say! Who sent you?" Rikka leapt back and assumed a kind of fighting stance. For seemingly no where she pulled her frilly umbrella. "Schwarz Sechs and I will cleanse this infection and save you!" Her umbrella snapped open as she leaned into what appeared to be a leap aimed at the boy.

"Wha-! Hold up there! It's not like that!" he protested, waving his hands frantically. "I don't want to hit by that thing again!"

"What he means is that he's been infected with a bug called love," Haruna explained to Rikka, taking a step between the two. Makoto has no desire to be hit and neither did she by that umbrella. Yuuta didn't know it but Rikka had told her that she had embedded the edges of lead balls sewn between the vinyl layers.

"Love is virus for mundanes?" Rikka asked eyes wide in wonder, lower the umbrella slightly.

She shrugged. "Sure, or close enough. See we need it otherwise we can't fall in love."

"How terrible! Forced to embrace a virus to love!" Rikka said looking aghast.

She suppressed the urge of sigh, but nodded anyway. Yuuta wasn't going to appreciate it when he learned she had planted another weird notion in her head, but it was still better than the umbrella being used…again. Even if the target was Makoto. "Yes, and since Makoto's been in love with Kumin-senpai for so long it can't be removed by us; in his blood you could say."

Rikka closed the umbrella with a snap. "I see. I had no idea the mundane love required this virus. How luck Yuuta and I don't need to be infected. Magical contracts are binding and deeper than mere biology. Yuuta and I are entwined souls."

"Ah, yes," she agreed outwardly. _Which is why you are losing him to Shinka_ she added to herself. "It's all we have, but we make it work."

The other girl looked thoughtful as Haruna turned to Makoto, who was wearing a look of open relief. It would at least be worth giving him a bit of her reasoning, if only to explain herself. "My father is the CEO of a multinational shipping conglomerate that deals with expensive equipment, medical and the like," she explained vaguely without revealing any details. "Often he entertains businessmen and their families at our house; British, German, French, Americans, Australians so he tried to make them feel at home with a Western style house."

"So you have to import new furniture like a new mattress," Karazi explained, having already been privy to her problem.

"Yes, father refuses to risk any aspect of his illusion being ruined. I think he hopes I'll take up a romance with one his business partner's sons," she mused, bile rising her throat at the thought.

"Woah, so the rumors about you being some kind of princess…" Makoto said with a hint of wonder, staring at her intently.

She frowned and him, not wanting to think of it too much. "If you define one as the daughter of a powerful business man," she bitterly answered. "It's not as fun as one would imagine. Rigid and stifling more than anything else," she muttered mutinously.

"One of our club members is a princess," he repeated in wonder. "It's explains the elegance and ability…"

"Oh it's nothing. Please don't pass this on to the general population. It was hard enough to get father to accept that I came here as a normal student instead of some elite academy," she asked politely.

Rikka snapped her fingers. "You're like Dekomori's family! Bluebloods masquerading in the mundane world! Are you sure you don't have some hidden power? Maybe rooms with magical artifacts allowing your father access to unparalleled power to keep his company running?"

She smiled at that idea. "Ara, I'd imagine any hidden power would have already come out."

The other girl shook her head vigorously. "No, no, no! It takes more age to grant one powers. That's just a myth created by the Organization to keep the general populace from trying to gain powers." She ran over to the lights and flicked them off. The last rays provided a bare minimal illumination as she ran to the outlet. The LED summoning circle crafted in the first year of the club's existence filled the room with blue light.

Rikka grabbed her hand and dragged her to the circle of lights. "All you need a guide. As the bearer of the Tyrant's Eye I have the power to open the darkness in the souls others." She removed the eye-patch, her golden contact lens glinting oddly in the LED light.

"This isn't needed…" Haruna tried to protest, but Rikka was a lost cause. Instead she looked to Karazi and Makoto, pleading with them to save her.

The wicked glint in Karazi eyes and the grin on her face told her of no such salvation. Makoto was edging towards the door and avoided her gaze. No doubt the boy feared catching the insanity Rikka dwelt in.

"Oh it's a short ritual, just to prove you have power. We can fully open the Doors of Night this weekend! I'll have to get the supplies on the trip though…" she trailed off looking at the circle until her head whipped up. "How do you feel about blood sacrifices? Needles? Syringes work better, but an obsidian blade would be best. Purity of the old ways; I think I have some left, but Yuuta might have one…"

"Eh?" Haruna raised an eyebrow in shock. "No, that not really needed!" Rikka's grip on her wrist was starting to hurt.

"Of course it is!" Rikka forced their arms up, over the edge of the circle of lights. "Now I'll start the chant and guide the flow of magic. All you need to do is focus on the circle and what you want to bring forth," Rikka explained. "Don't worry about the amount of power, my Tyrant's Eye can easily crush any human bloodline power. Oh and I'd suggest we summon something weak. Chimera's are hard to tame, maybe a sprite or a fairy!"

Haruna protested again to no avail. Rikka started to chant, a mix of English and mangled Latin, her voice rising in falling in octaves regularly. The death grip on her wrist kept her from running and she resigned herself to suffer through Rikka's delusion. Any other might have slapped her, but she would not strike her friend even if she was crazy. It wasn't as if magic were real.

The natural sunlight vanished and her vision swam for a moment. In that moment she could have sworn that the LED light was solidifying into a column. Brilliant dust particles coagulated before her as she blinked twice to clear her eyes.

The spell was broken with her third blink. There had been a certain beauty to the scene she acknowledge, almost enough to make one want to believe something was happening, but she knew the truth. The vision she saw was mere a trick of change in light between the natural light and the harsh LED light playing in her brain trying to make sense of the scene.

The wondrous look and wide eyed awe on Rikka's face told her that the other girl had seen something far different. Rikka's chanting faded as she simply stared ahead. For a long minute they both stood there, Haruna gently trying to free her wrist.

"I-I-I'm…" Rikka began and words failed her.

"Would you let go?" Haruna demanded icily. Her wrist was starting to hurt and this farce was over.

Rikka yipped as if startled and let go quickly. "Sorry! I didn't notice, not with that…power…"

"What?" she stared flatly at the girl, who took a step back. With her other hand she massage her wrist, keeping Rikka in sight.

"You're power…it was like a roaring waterfall, not a stream like I expected. I-I wasn't prepared for it, but," she gave her a wide smile, "you have massive magical power! Maybe even more than Deko!"

"No," she rejected instantly. "I'm no playing along anymore." She turned on heel and made for the door, pausing only to sweep up her briefcase at the door and brush Makoto aside. She was vaguely aware of Karazi following her, quick footsteps after a hasty farewell. Makoto followed at a more sedate pace and never heard a telltale fourth set of steps.

She didn't slow down until she was out the front gates. She turned back and looked up towards the clubroom. The blue LED glow flickered out, but for a moment it was almost as if something small flickered across the window. "Anger and exhaustion are a poor mix," she muttered as she turned for home, not wishing to deal with anyone else today.

None bore witness to brief return of the glow half an hour later, save the old man walking his poodle on the other side of the street who looked upon it with a fond smile and kept walking.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Yeah I went there. _

_This little fic was whipped up in my off hours, a mad fusion of two shows that absolutely nothing in common and I completely ripped the message out from one already. I'm not planning to make this grand epic, but a decent length fic. _

_So spoilers ahoy: _

_My original the intent was have the cast of __Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions already graduated and starting their new lives as they become more intertwined with the supernatural. Tales of demonic managers, blackmailed by angel and loan shark Fallen angels aren't my cup of tea. Instead I decided to focus on the mystical side, the delusions, which weirdly fit with DxD magical limits being you're own imagination/intelligence. Personally I always liked the creativity displayed in the delusion sequences and found the 'romance' a tertiary interest after the 'friendship' healing of traumatic wounds._

_For those who care: Rias and her Peerage will not be appearing. Rias herself is no more than three, the focus is on the survivors of the Great War and the monstrous existences that existence in that time. To which the Chunnibyuo cast fits excellently with a little work. _

_Satone- here I feel that most people will take issue with her bloodthirsty, sadistic and somewhat perverse interactions being non-canonical. She is a demon magician, a very old demon from the dawn of man before the Evil Pieces reincarnation, hence not a proper devil as DxD defines them. _

_Keep in mind that DxD is a setting teeming with inhuman characters who remember the Fall of Lucifer and the world well before human exist. Time is a meaningless concept to such exists that continue until they are killed by force. A ten thousand year old demon magician along would be middling power level at best. _

_And to Yuuta and his relationships- Frankly I can't see Rikka working out with Yuuta in the long term. Maybe it could but in my mind it would result in a case of extreme co-dependence complex masquerading as love since he's the one pulling her out of this mental state. Such people often don't deal well with change and one of the other will seek an out. Short term it could work out, but beyond high school and the rest of the world, it wouldn't last between a boy trying to find his place in the real world and girl in her own world. To her credit Shinka is at least trying to move past her issues. Cynicism and a hidden personality are hardly the sole traits one ought to reject a possible mate by, which is simply shallow and petty behavior expected from lust/hormones/first love. _

_Tl;dr: Chunnibyuo cannon is about puppy love. Highschool romance don't/rarely last. Reality sucks. _


End file.
